Author:
Baum Frances,Cope David R.
Abstract
SummaryIntentional childlessness in Britain has been investigated by means of a postal questionnaire survey of married women who to date had never had a child. These wives were categorized according to their fertility intentions. As a group the wives were well-educated, likely to be employed and to be married to men in professional or managerial occupations, although there were some with husbands in manual occupations. The main reason perceived by the wives for their decision not to have children was the value they placed on the freedom they consequently gained. A majority of the wives felt there were no disadvantages in remaining childless. The remainder who felt that there were disadvantages identified these as: missing the positive features of children; possible loneliness and lack of support in old age; feelings of deviancy; and economic and social discrimination resulting from their childlessness.
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Subject
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health,General Social Sciences
Reference23 articles.
1. Is there an innate need for children?
2. Childless by choice;Norman;Sunday Times,1978
3. Litchtman C.H. (1976) Voluntary Childlessness: a Thematic Analysis of the Person and the Process Ed. D. thesis, Columbia University, Teachers' College, New York.
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